LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


presented  to  the 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  •  SAN  DIEGO 
by 

FRIENDS  OF  THE  LIBRARY 

_    MR.    JOHN  C.   ROSE 

donor 


THE   NIGHT   HAS   A   THOUSAND   EYES 
AND    OTHER    POEMS 


'       M/ 

THE    NIGHT   HAS 
A   THOUSAND    EYES 

AND 

OTHER    POEMS 

BY 

F.  W.   BOURDILLON 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1899 


Copyright,  iSgr, 
BY  ROBERTS  BROTHERS 

Copyright,  z8w, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


EDMUND  H.   GARRETT. 


PAGE 

"WHEN  LIKE  A  LARK  THE  SOUL  UPSPRINGS" 6 

"THE  NIGHT  HAS  A  THOUSAND  EYES " 13 

"SOUNDS  OF  THE  RIVERSIDE  ARE  IN  MY  EAR'' 19 

"THE  WEARY  EVER-WANDERING  WAVES" 24 

"THE  EYES  OF  A  MAIDEN" .  30 

"WHEN  SOFTER  BREEZES  BLOW" 39 

"THERE  is  NO  SUMMER  ERE  THE  SWALLOWS  COME"  ...  44 

"THEY  GREW  IN  THE  GRASSY  BYWAY" 49 

"WHEN  ROSE-LEAVES  IN  LONG  GRASSES  FALL" 52 

"THE  LILY  WEEPS  AT  EVEN" 58 

"WHEN  IN  THE  WOODS  I  WANDERED" 62 

"I  WOULD  BE  A  CLOUD" 67 


AILES   D'ALOUETTE 

When  like  a  lark  the  soul  upsprings, 
Of  verse  she  makes  her  airy  wings. 

Oh  may  these  verses,  pair  and  pair, 
Some  heart  in  heavenward  flight  upbear. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

THE  NIGHT  HAS  A  THOUSAND  EYES 13 

IN  AN  ALBUM 14 

A  VALENTINE 15 

IN  APRIL 16 

AN  APRIL  SHOWER 17 

A  SPRING  EVENING 18 

JUNE  IN  LONDON 19 

A  BIRTHDAY  IN  NOVEMBF.R .20 

A  DECEMBER  GREETING 21 

DECAY 22 

LATET  ANGUIS 23 

THE  TROUBLED  SEA 24 

ONE  DEED  OF  GOOD 25 

SURSUM  CORDA 26 

Y  WYDDFA 27 

SIGHT  AND  INSIGHT 28 

WITHIN  THE  GENTLE  HEART  LOVE  SHELTERS  HIM     .  29 

SAPPHIRES 30 

9 


IO  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

ADORATION  .................    31 


...................  32 

A  REPROACH  AND  THE  ANSWER  .........  33 

SEAWEED  ..................  34 

0  LOVE,  FORGIVE     ..............  35 

'TWIXT   THEE   AND    ME  .............  36 

1  GIVE  MY  HEART    ..............  37 

IN  A  DISTANT  LAND    .............  38 

A  SONG    ..................  39 

A    WHITE    DOVE   ON    A    THUNDERCLOUD      ......  40 

A  MOMENT  .................  41 

THE  SHADOW  OF  LOVE    ............  42 

FAST  AND  LOOSE  ...............  43 

LOVE'S  MEINIE     ...............  44 

A  LOST  VOICE  ................  45 

A  GHOST  ..................  46 

A  LOST  LOVE    ................  47 

GATHERED  ROSES     ..............  48 

DROPPED  PRIMROSES    .............  49 

AFTER  LOVE'S  DEATH  .............  50 

LIGHT  AT  EVENTIDE     .............  51 

WAITING  ..................  52 


CONTENTS.  II 

PAGE 

THE  DIFFERENCE 53 

DE  PROFUNDIS 54 

RELIEF 55 

Do  THE  DEAD  THINK  OF  THE  LIVING 56 

EARTH'S  ANGELS 57 

ANGELS'  TEARS 58 

PATIENCE 59 

So  LONG  AGO 60 

A  LA  CHALEUR  DU  JOUR 61 

WHEN  IN  THE  WOODS  I  WANDERED 62 

THE  FORSAKEN  DOVE 63 

MAY  MEMORIES 64,  65 

AFTER  STORM 66 

A  THOUGHT  OF  SUMMER 67 

OLD  AND  NEW 68 

A  DEDICATION 69 

A  DAY  OF  LOVE 70 

VIBRATIONS 71 

AN  ENGLISH  EDEN 72 

AUTUMN  SINGERS 73 


THE   NIGHT   HAS 
A  THOUSAND   EYES. 


THE  night  has  a  thousand  eyes, 
And  the  day  but  one; 
Yet  the  light  of  the  bright  world  dies 
With  the  dying  sun. 


The  mind  has  a  thousand  eyes, 
And  the  heart  but  one: 

Yet  the  light  of  a  whole 

life  dies 
When  love  is  done. 


IN   AN   ALBUM. 

AS  a  faded  flower 
Found  in  a  book 
Brings  back  some  hour, 

Some  word  or  look ; 

So,  though  ill-wrought 

My  verses  be, 
May  they  bring  one  thought 

Of  thy  friend  to  thee  ! 


A   VALENTINE. 


W 


HAT  is  my  wish  for  thee,  sweet  Valentine? 
A  song  of  Spring,  while  Winter  yet  is  here, 
Heralding  Summer  in  the  silent  year, 
Be  thine ! 


And  for  myself  canst  thou  my  wish  divine? 
To  think  my  greeting  may  be  in  thy  sight 
Welcome  as  Summer's  heralds,  — this  delight 
Be  mine ! 


IN   APRIL. 

WHAT  tidings  hath  the  swallow  heard 
That  bid  her  leave  the  lands  of  Summer 
For  woods  and  fields,  where  April  yields 

Bleak  welcome  to  the  blithe  new-comer? 

O  heart,  that  hast  despaired  of  Spring, 

Learn  the  sweet  lesson  of  the  swallow. 

To  have  no  fear,  though  days  be  drear, 

But  sunshine  and  soft  airs  must  follow! 


16 


T 


AN   APRIL   SHOWER. 

HE  primrose  head  is  bowed  with  tears, 

The  wood  is  rippling  through  with  rain, 
Though  now  the  heaven  once  more  appears, 

And  beams  the  bounteous  sun  again. 
From  every  blade  and  blossom-cup 
The  earth  sends  thankful  incense  up. 

0  happy  hearts  of  flower  and  field, 

That  soon  as  grief  be  overpast 
Your  fragrant  thankfulness  can  yield 

For  troubled  skies  and  rainful  blast! 

1  would  that  I  as  soon  could  see 
The  blessings  of  adversity ! 


A  SPRING   EVENING. 


A  CROSS  the  glory  of  the  evening  skies 
•**•     A  veil  is  drawn  of  shadowed  mists  that  rise 
From  lavishness  of  God's  late  gift  the  rain. 


So,  after  farewell  said,  fond  memories 

Of  words  and  looks  the  sweetest  come  again 
Across  the  glowing  heart,  a  veil  of  pain. 


18 


JUNE   IN   LONDON. 


SOUNDS  of  the  riverside  are  in  my  ear 
Through  the  long  day ; 
The  merry  haymakers  I  plainly  hear, 
The  tossing  hay. 

O  cruel  dreams,  that  through  the  roaring 

town 

Mine  ears  engage ! 
Alas,  poor  lark !  whose  home  was  once 

the  down, 
But  now  a  cage! 


A    BIRTHDAY    IN    NOVEMBER. 

\I  7 HAT  bird's  song  for  her  birthday  can  I  find? 
*  "       What  blossom  by  the  rain  not  rent  and  bowed  ? 
What  green-left  spray,  of  summer  to  remind, 

When  woods  are  leafless,  and  the  wind  is  loud? 

Sweeter  my  song  shall  be  than  wood-birds  sing, 

Fairer  my  flower  than  summer  rose  shall  prove, 

Greener  my  leaf-crown  than  the  woods  in  spring, 
A  simple  verse  that  breathes  of  living  love. 


20 


A   DECEMBER  GREETING. 

LOWERS  I  give  for  a  gift  of  flowers, 

Lilies  with  lilies  pay; 
Yours  were  a  gift  of  golden  hours, 
But  how  can  mine  be  gay? 


My  flowers  are  verses,  the  sad  year's  last, 

Yet  haply  not  all  in  vain, 
For  the  grace  of  your  gift  to  my  soul  has  passed, 

May  it  here  be  given  again ! 


21 


DECAY. 

S~\   LUSTRE  of  decay ! 

^-^        The  daylight  glides  away 

In  glow  of  richer  glory  than  at  noon: 

Autumn,  that  steals  the  flower, 

Gives  the  tree  golden  dower, 

And  crimsons  walls  that  will  be  leafless  soon. 

O  dimness  of  decay ! 

The  sunset  hastes  away, 

And  leaves  the  world  the  lone  and  darkling  night; 

And  Autumn  when  he  flies 

Leaves  only  howling  skies, 

And  trees  that  toss  their  naked  boughs  in  fright. 


22 


LATET   ANGUIS. 

AH  !  full  of  purest  influence 
On  human  mind  and  mood, 
Of  holiest  joy  to  human  sense 

Are  river,  field,  and  wood ; 
And  better  must  all  childhood  be 
That  knows  a  garden  and  a  tree. 

For  where  can  one  diviner  gleam 
On  leagues  of  houses  lie? 

And  what  of  Heaven  can  childhood  dream 
That  scarce  has  seen  the  sky? 

Yet  sin  and  sorrow's  pedigree 

Spring  from  a  Garden  and  a  Tree. 


THE   TROUBLED    SEA. 


'""THE  weary  ever-wandering  waves, 

That  know  no  change  from  their  unrest, 

Make  murmuring  in  hollow  caves, 

And  sighing  on  the  soft  sand's  breast, 

That  they  forever  to  and  fro 

Beneath  the  pitiless  sky  must  go. 


The  toiling  tempest-driven  ships, 

That  buffet  with  the  angry  foam, 

Escape  at  last  its  hungry  lips 

And  hail  their  white-cliffed  harbor-home. 

But  the  wild  waves  no  rest  may  know, 

But  toss  forever  to  and  fro. 


ONE   DEED   OF   GOOD. 

F  I  might  do  one  deed  of  good, 
One  little  deed  before  I  die, 

Or  think  one  noble  thought  that  should 
Hereafter  not  forgotten  lie, 

I  would  not  murmur  though  I  must 

Be  lost  in  Death's  unnumbered  dust. 

The  filmy  wing,  that  wafts  the  seed 
Upon  the  careless  wind  to  earth, 

Lives  only  for  a  moment's  deed, 

To  find  the  germ  fit  place  for  birth; 

For  one  swift  moment  of  delight 

It  whirls,  —  then  withers  out  of  sight. 


SURSUM   CORDA. 

T  T  OW  can  the  out-worn  heart 
•*••*•     To  earth  that  clings 
From  self-spun  cerements  start 
On  rainbow  wings  ? 

How  from  its  husk  had  flown 

The  butterfly 
Save  with  its  wings  were  grown 

Love  of  the  sky? 


Y    WYDDFA. 

THE   SUMMIT   OF   SNOWDON. 

'T'HE  Place  of  Presence!    Viewless  phantoms  crowd 

In  mist  and  cloud; 

And  in  dark  chasm  and  deep  abyss  beneath 
Hides  dreadful  Death. 

Not  his  nor  theirs  the  Presence  nor  the  Place! 

Close  to  the  face 
Of  Heaven  we  stand,  and  more  in  love  than  fear 

Feel  God  is  here. 


27 


SIGHT   AND   INSIGHT. 

DY  land  and  sea  I  travelled  wide; 
•*— '     My  thought  the  earth  could  span; 
And  wearily  I  turned  and  cried 
"  O  little  world  of  man  !  " 

I  wandered  by  a  greenwood's  side 

The  distance  of  a  rod; 
My  eyes  were  opened,  and  I  cried 

"O  mighty  world  of  God!" 


28 


WITHIN    THE   GENTLE    HEART   LOVE   SHELTERS    HIM, 
AS    BIRDS   WITHIN   THE   GREEN    SHADE   OF   THE   GROVE. 

1    OVE  in  the  heart  is  as  a  nightingale 
•^     That  sings  in  a  green  wood; 
And  none  can  pass  unheeding  there,  nor  fail 
Of  impulses  of  good. 

Though  cruel  brief  be  Love's  bright  hour  of  song, 

Yet  let  him  sing  his  fill ! 
For  other  hearts  the  echoes  shall  prolong 

When  Love's  own  voice  is  still. 


29 


SAPPHIRES. 


-11  7ONDERFUL  is  the  sea, 

And  the  sky  above  the  hill, 
But  the  eyes  of  a  maiden  be 
More  wondrous  still. 


For  not  the  nightly  skies 
Such  depths  discover, 

As,  when  she  loves,  her  eyes 
Do  to  her  lover. 


ADORATION. 

MAIDEN,  do  you  wonder  why  my  eyes 
So  deeply  gaze  in  thine? 
Not  alone  because  night's  clearest  skies 
With  no  such  lustre  shine ; 

But  that  deep  within  the  world  there  lies 

A  mystery  divine ; 
And  I  know  not  where,  save  in  such  eyes, 

To  worship  at  its  shrine. 


CJELI. 

F  stars  were  really  watching  eyes 

Of  angel  armies  in  the  skies, 
I  should  forget  all  watchers  there, 
And  only  for  your  glances  care. 

And  if  your  eyes  were  really  stars 
With  leagues  that  none  can  mete  for  bars 
To  keep  me  from  their  longed-for  day, 
I  could  not  feel  more  far  away. 


A   REPROACH   AND   THE   ANSWER. 

T^HE  Sun  cried  to  the  laughing  Sea, 
*       *•  Leave  thy  sweet  wiling  ! 
Hast  thou  no  depths  of  love  in  thee, 

Too  deep  for  smiling?" 
But  ever,  till  the  day  was  done, 
The  Sea  turned  laughing  to  the  Sun. 

But  in  the  darkness  and  the  storm, 

Could  he  discover 
What  terrors  toss,  what  fears  deform 

His  laughing  lover? 
Oh,  vainly  love  prays  love  look  sad 
When  his  mere  presence  makes  her  glad. 


33 


SEAWEED. 

A  LAS,  poor  weed !     The  careless  tide 
•'*•     Has  left  thee  with  his  lightest  foam ; 
And  now  a  desert  drear  and  wide 

Divides  thee  from  thy  wished-for  home. 
The  tide  may  bear  thee  back  once  more, 
But  canst  thou  live  thy  life  of  yore? 

Alas,  I  too  am  left  awhile 

By  her  I  love  in  lightest  play ; 

On  distant  loves  I  see  her  smile, 
I  hear  her  laughter  far  away. 

Her  heart  may  turn  to  me  again, 

But  can  my  heart  forget  the  pain? 


34 


O   LOVE   FORGIVE. 


O 


LOVE  forgive! 
The  sunny  slopes  forgive  the  passing  cloud, 

And  we  who  live 

Less  near  to   heaven   than  they  should    be  less 
proud. 

No  punishment 
Can  pass  the  pain  e'er  to  have  grieved  thee ; 

And  I  present 
My  heart  thus  chastened  thy  new  slave  to  be. 


35 


'TWIXT   THEE   AND   ME. 

WILL  not  reason  why  I  love, 

Or  what  I  love  in  thee. 
There  breathes  some  secret  from  above 
In  every  flower  we  see. 

Suddenly  as  we  pass  we  own 
Some  glimpse  or  scent  divine. 

Such  secret  to  none  others  known 
My  heart  has  found  in  thine. 


I   GIVE   MY    HEART. 

GIVE  my  heart !     An  empty  hand 

Were  never  gift  to  thee ! 
But  oh,  that  thou  couldst  understand 
What  mea*ns  this  gift  from  me ! 

No  mist  that  melts  into  the  air, 

Nor  rain  into  the  sea, 
Doth  more  its  whole  of  being  share 

Than  I  do,  love,  with  thee ! 


37 


IN   A   DISTANT   LAND. 

MY  heart  has  wandered  far  from  me 
On  wings  of  love  to-night, 
Has  passed  a  thousand  leagues  of  sea 
Swifter  than  swallow's  flight. 

What  doth  thy  journey  profit  thee, 

Thou  idle  wanderer, 
Who  canst  not  take  my  eyes  to  see 
Nor  tongue  to  talk  with  her ! 


A   SONG. 


' 


W 


HEN  softer  breezes  blow 

And  Winter  flies, 
How  blue  the  rivers  flow 

Beneath  blue  skies !      t^  '*  "* 


Ah,  darling,  it  is  sweet 

After  long  pain 
When  your  glad  eyes  repeat 

My  love  again ! 


39 


A   WHITE   DOVE   ON   A   THUNDER-CLOUD. 


A 


WHITE  dove  on  a  thunder-cloud, 

A  white  sail  on  a  sullen  sea ; 
But  sail  nor  dove  is  white  as  love 
That  in  sorrow  came  to  me. 


The  white  dove  fled,  and  tempest  came ; 

The  white  sail  vanished  from  the  sea; 
But  my  white  dove  that  is  my  true  love 

Can  never  depart  from  me. 


40 


W 


A   MOMENT. 

HEN  the  lightning  flashes  by  night, 

The  raindrops  seem 
A  million  jewels  of  light 
In  the  moment's  gleam. 


And  often  in  gathering  fears 
A  moment  of  love 

To  jewels  will  turn  the  tears 
That  it  cannot  remove. 


THE   SHADOW   OF   LOVE. 

'"PHE  branching  shades  in  woodland  glades 
*       Seem  to  the  under  fern 
Wide  as  the  night  that  leaves  no  light, — 
No  shape  can  they  discern. 

And  we  who  seek  in  senses  weak 

Love's  form  to  entertain  — 
So  far  Love's  whole  o'erspreads  the  soul  — 

Too  oft  see  only  pain. 


42 


L 


FAST   AND   LOOSE. 

OVE  holds  me  so ! 

I  would  that  I  could  go ! 
I  flutter  up  and  down,  and  to  and  fro, 
In  vain;   Love  holds  me  so! 


Love  let  me  go. 

I  seek  him  high  and  low ; 

I  wander  up  and  down,  and  to  and  fro, 

In  vain,  in  vain;  and  life  is  cruel  woe, 

Since  Love  has  let  me  go. 


43 


LOVE'S   MEINIE. 

r~PHERE  is  no  summer  ere  the  swallows  come, 

Nor  Love  appears, 
Till    Hope,   Love's   light-winged    herald,  lifts 

the  gloom 
Of  years. 

~^^        There  is  no  summer  left  when  swallows  fly, 

And  Love  at  last, 
When   hopes  which    filled   its   heaven   droop 

and  die, 
Is  past. 


44 


A   LOST   VOICE. 

A  THOUSAND  voices  fill  my  ears 
All  day  until  the  light  grows  pale ; 
But  silence  falls  when  night-time  nears, 
And  where  art  thou,  sweet  nightingale? 

Was  that  thine  echo,  faint  and  far? 

Nay,  all  is  hushed  as  heaven  above  ; 
In  earth  no  voice,  in  heaven  no  star, 

And  in  my  heart  no  dream  of  love. 


45 


A   GHOST. 

MET  a  ghost  in  an  old  bare  house, 

That  looked  with  lustreless  eyes  at  me, 
And  drove  from  my  eyes  sweet  dreams  and  drowse, 
Till  the  morning  made  it  flee. 

My  house  is  builded  of  years  decayed, 

And  in  vain  I  fill  it  with  new  glad  light, 

For  a  love  that  is  lost  is  a  ghost  unlaid 
That  troubles  the  silent  night. 


A   LOST   LOVE. 

AS  our  childhood's  world  of  wood  and  field, 
That  strangers  now  possess ; 
As  a  dead  mother's  face  in  sleep  revealed 
To  her  child  in  its  loneliness; 

As  a  dream  of  home  to  an  exile  banished 

Forever  beyond  the  sea,  — 
So  vainly  sweet,  O  love  long  vanished, 

Is  the  sound  of  thy  name  to  me ! 


47 


GATHERED   ROSES. 


a  bee  made  prisoner, 
Caught  in  a  gathered  rose  ! 
Was  he  not  '  ware  a  flower  so  fair 
For  the  first  gatherer  grows  ? 

Only  a  heart  made  prisoner, 
Going  out  free  no  more  ! 

Was  he  not  'ware  a  face  so  fair 

Must  have  been  gathered  before? 


48 


DROPPED   PRIMROSES. 


'"THEY  grew  in  the  grassy  byway, 
*       With  the  hazel  wands  o'erhead ; 
They  lie  in  the  dusty  highway, 
Dying  or  dead. 


O  flowers  too  soon  forsaken ! 

O  tender  hearts  grief-torn ! 
By  a  light  love  idly  taken, 

And  left  forlorn  ! 


49 


AFTER   LOVE'S   DEATH. 

A  FTER  the  sunshine,  night; 
**     After  the  summer,  rain; 
After  days  of  delight 
Come  days  of  pain. 

After  the  darkness,  light; 

After  the  winter,  spring. 
After  Love's  death,  delight, 

Ah,  who  can  bring ! 


LIGHT   AT   EVENTIDE. 

\I  7  HAT  heart  except  to  die  can  find 
•  *       The  rain-beat  roses, 
Though  storms  be  past  and  heaven  grow  kind 
Ere  daylight  closes? 

O  sunless  lives,  long  taught  to  bend 

By  years  of  sadness, 
What  can  ye  do  if  sorrows  end 

But  die  of  gladness  ? 


WAITING. 


•-      < 


rose-leaves  in  long  grasses  fall 
To  hide  their  shattered  head, 
All  tenderly  the  grasses  tall 

Bow  down  to  veil  the  dead. 

And  there  are  hearts  content  to  wait, 

Still  as  the  grasses  lie, 
Till  those  they  love,  however  late, 

Turn  there  at  last  to  die. 


THE   DIFFERENCE. 

O  WEETER  than  voices  in  the  scented  hay, 
v~'     Or  laughing  children  gleaning  ears  astray, 
Or  Christmas  songs  that  shake  the  snows  above, 
Is  the  first  cuckoo,  when  he  comes  with  love. 

Sadder  than  birds  on  sunless  summer  eves, 
Or  drip  of  raindrops  on  the  autumn  leaves, 
Or  wail  of  wintry  waves  on  frozen  shore, 
Is  spring  that  comes  but  brings  us  love  no  more. 


DE   PROFUNDIS. 

OELOW  the  dark  waves  where  the  dead  go  down 
*—*     Are  gulfs  of  night  more  deep ; 
But  little  care  they  whom  the  waves  once  drown 
How  far  from  light  they  sleep. 

But  who,  in  deepest  sorrow  though  he  be, 

Fears  not  a  deeper  still  ? 
Would  God  that  sorrow  were  as  the  salt  sea, 

Whose  topmost  waters  kill ! 


54 


RELIEF. 

BLANK  has  the  day  been, 
Blind  all  the  sky, 
White  has  the  way  been, 
Chill  the  snows  lie. 

Only  at  nightfall, 

Heard  faint  and  low, 
Hark !  'tis  the  light  fall, 

Rain  on  the  snow. 


55 


DO   THE   DEAD   THINK   OF  THE   LIVING? 


the  dead  think  of  the  living, 
In  the  blue  heaven  overhead, 
All  repenting,  all  forgiving, 

As  the  living  of  the  dead? 


Yes  ;  but  while  we  weep,  surveying 
Pathways  long  and  lonely  feet, 

They  in  heaven  smile  softly,  saying, 
li'Tis  to-morrow  and  we  meet!" 


EARTH'S   ANGELS. 

\\  7 HAT  though  no  more  in  human  guise, 
*  *       On  radiant  pinions  borne, 
Are  angels  seen  of  mortal  eyes, — 
Earth  is  not  left  forlorn. 

Some  bird  that  sings  in  hopeless  hours 

God's  messenger  may  be; 
And  I  have  seen  in  primrose  flowers 

God's  angels  smile  on  me. 


57 


ANGELS'  TEARS. 

'""THE  lily  weeps  at  even, 

For  vapors  fallen  anew 
From  the  clear  vault  of  heaven 

Turn  at  her  touch  to  dew. 
'Tis  only  so  heaven's  tearless  eyes 
With  mortal  woes  can  sympathize. 

Know  ye  the  white-souled  maiden 
That's  like  the  lily  bell? 

When  her  soft  eyes  are  laden 
With  teardrops,  men  may  tell 

The  angels'  sympathy  appears, 

Made  visible  in  human  tears. 


PATIENCE. 

STILL  are  the  ships  that  at  anchor  ride, 
Waiting  fair  winds  or  turn  of  the  tide; 
Nothing  they  fret,  though  they  go  not  yet 
Out  on  the  glorious  ocean  wide. 
O  wild  hearts,  that  yearn  to  be  free, 
Look  and  learn  from  the  ships  of  the  sea ! 

Bravely  the  ships  in  the  tempest  tossed 

Buffet  the  waves  till  the  sea  be  crossed ; 

Not  in  despair  of  the  haven  fair, 

Though  winds  blow  backward,  and  leagues  be  lost. 

O  weary  hearts  that  yearn  for  sleep, 

Look  and  learn  from  the  ships  on  the  deep ! 


59 


SO  LONG  AGO. 


of  the  dark  eyes,  do  you  know 
What  it  is  makes  me  kiss  you  so  ? 

'Tis  that  your  eyes  are  dark  and  deep, 
And  love  in  their  low  depths  seems  to  sleep, 
As  in  those  of  my  love  when  he  kissed  me  so, 
Long  ago,  ah  !  long  ago. 

Child  of  the  dark  hair,  can  you  guess 

Why  from  your  head  I  cut  a  tress? 

Because  his  lock,  of  the  same  dark  hue, 
I  burnt  in  scorn  when  he  proved  untrue. 

But  now  I  could  look  on  it  calmly,  so, 
It  was  so  long,  so  long  ago. 


60 


A   LA   CHALEUR    DU  JOUR. 

LANDS  of  our  childish  dreams, 
Of  flowers  and  happy  streams, 
Too  far,  too  far  beyond  recall  ye  fade. 
Children  and  butterflies, 
What  gain  ye,  growing  wise, 
To  make  amends  for  happiness  decayed? 

The  wood's  enchanted  ways, 

Trees  that  were  haunts  of  fays, 

All,  all  have  lost  their  spell;  and  what  remains 

Save  memory,  and  troth-plight 

With  some  far-off  delight, 

For  Eden's  outcast,  toiling  on  hot  plains  ? 


61 


WHEN   IN   THE   WOODS   I   WANDERED. 

\1  7 HEN  in  the  woods  I  wandered, 
*"       The  gift  of  bird-like  song 

Came  on  me  full  and  strong; 
And  many  a  verse  I  squandered 
The  woods  and  ways  along. 

But  now  my  verse,  though  pondered 
With  labor  sad  and  long, 
Strives  vainly  to  be  strong 

Ah  me !  the  gift  so  squandered ! 
Ah  me !  the  bird-like  song ! 


THE   FORSAKEN   DOVE. 


,  in  the  dying  day, 
Into  the  golden  skies, 
On  wings  as  gold  as  they 

I  watched  a  wood-dove  rise. 
Into  the  shining  clouds  afar 
He  shot,  and  vanished  like  a  star. 

But  all  the  moonless  night 
I  heard  in  the  dark  wood 

One  plaining  her  sad  plight 
In  doleful  solitude. 

O  cruel  light  to  take  my  love  ! 

O  lonely  night  !  O  forlorn  dove  ! 


MAY   MEMORIES. 

,  for  the  light-hearted 
Life  and  the  passionate 
Pulse,  and  the  fetterless 

Feet,  and  the  strong 
Stream  of  enthusiast 
Thought,  when  the  spirit  of 
Spring  like  a  Bacchanal 

Bore  me  along ! 
Oh,  the  luxuriant 
Leaves,  and  the  effluent 
Flowers,  and  the  resonant 

Raptures  of  song! 


Oh,  for  the  mirth-bringing 
Morns,  and  the  nectarous 
Noons,  and  the  exquisite 

Eves,  when  the  fair 
Face  of  the  noiseless  queen 
Night,  with  her  eloquent 
Eyes,  and  her  azure 

Abysses,  lay  bare; 
And  like  a  breath  from  the 
Briar,  from  the  sensitive 
Soul  rose  the  innocent 

Incense  of  prayer! 


AFTER   STORM. 

"\T  7IND  and  wave  are  sleeping  now; 

Leaps  no  more  the  lashing  surge ; 
And  the  lighthouse  on  the  brow 

Glimmers  to  the  distant  verge. 
Still  below,  vague  and  low, 

Croons  the  sea  her  solemn  dirge. 

Sail  and  seagull  all  are  flown ; 

Safe  in  haven  or  cleft  they  lie ; 
And  the  stately  moon  alone 

Moves  along  the  stainless  sky. 
Still  for  aye,  night  and  day, 

The  sea-voices  moan  and  sigh. 


66 


A   THOUGHT   OF   SUMMER. 

I   WOULD  be  a  cloud 
Half-way  up  to  heaven; 
Not  aloft  and  proud, 

Nor  too  low,  and  driven 
In  a  whirl  of  rain 
O'er  the  shivering  plain. 


But  a  cloud  all  white 
In  a  heaven  all  blue, 

Hanging  in  men's  sight 
Half  a  long  day  through 

And  when  daylight  goes, 

Dying  in  soft  rose. 


67 


OLD  AND   NEW. 

\T 7HERE  are  they  hidden,  all  the  vanished  years? 

Ah,  who  can  say ! 
Where  is  the  laughter  flown  to,  and  the  tears  ? 

Perished  ?     Ah,  nay  ! 

Beauty  and  strength  are  born  of  sun  and  showers ; 
These  too  shall  surely  spring  again  in  flowers. 

Yet  let  them  sleep,  nor  seek  herein  to  wed 

Effect  to  cause, 
For  Nature's  subtlest  influences  spread 

By  viewless  laws. 

This  only  seek,  that  each  new  year  may  bring, 
Born  of  past  griefs  and  joys,  a  fairer  spring ! 


68 


A   DEDICATION. 

1\  ]  OT  of  his  treasures  gives  the  sea, 
Not  gold  or  jewels  to  the  land, 
Nor  of  all  precious  things  that  he 

Has  ravished  with  his  robber  hand. 
With  worthless  weeds  he  wreathes  her  o'er, 
With  shells  unvalued  lines  the  shore. 

Ev'n  so  his  reverent  love  he  shows 
By  giving  not  his  costless  pelf, 

But  that  which  of  his  being  grows, — 
True  gift  it  is  to  give  of  self. 

For  my  poor  gift  let  this  atone  : 

I  give  thee  what  is  most  my  own. 


69 


A   DAY   OF   LOVE. 

DEAR  is  the  sunny  between-while 
Of  April  skies, 

Though  black  with  storm  in  the  meanwhile 
The  clouds  arise. 

Tho'  the  clouds  that  shall  burst  on  the  morrow 

Be  gathering  above, 
So  dear  in  a  year  of  sorrow 

Is  a  day  of  love. 


70 


VIBRATIONS. 

\1  7 HAT  wonder  if  when  Love  awakes 
Suddenly  the  tense  heart  breaks ! 
As  at  the  organ's  thundering 
Breaks  the  lute's  responsive  string ! 

Ah.  sadder  heart,  where  Love  has  grown 
Stealthily,  his  name  unknown ! 
As  at  some  wandering  noiseless  air 
The  wind-harp  wakens  to  despair. 


AN   ENGLISH   EDEN. 

OSES  drop  their  petals  all  around 

In  that  enchanted  ground, 
And  all  the  air  is  murmurous  with  sound 

From  the  white-tumbling  weir; 
So  that  all  sounds  or  voices  heard  anear 

Do  half  unreal  appear. 

As  one  half-waking  from  a  dreamless  sleep 

Is  fain  his  thought  to  keep 
Thus  floating  ever  'twixt  the  night's  black  deep 

And  the  blank  glare  of  day: 
So  in  that  Eden  pauses  life  midway 

'Twixt  dawning  and  noonday. 


72 


AUTUMN   SINGERS. 

\1  7" HEN  woods  are  gold  and  hedges  gay 
^*       With  jewelled  Autumn's  brief  array, 
And  diamonds  sprinkle  every  spray, 

The  robin  sings 
His  soft  melodious  well-a-day 
For  dying  things. 

Yet  often,  when  a  riotous  night 

Has  ruined  half  the  wood's  delight, 

There  breaks  a  spring-day  warm  and  bright; 

And  the  thrush  sings, 
As  if  his  April  were  in  sight, 

Of  quickening  things. 


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